


A*V*E*N*G*E*R*S

by Ohshitmyship



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Multi, just chillin, just the avengers being friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-02-18 10:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21542875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ohshitmyship/pseuds/Ohshitmyship
Summary: Earth's best defenders; her mightiest heroes; the original 6...this team has many names, and many skills designed to save the world.They also have a bunch of other skills like drawing, climbing through vents, and never cleaning up the goddamned kitchen. seriously Stark, we know you have a butler, but give poor Jarvis a rest already!Enjoy this sitcom-esque story about Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, and Thor Odinson as they come together as a team and actually hold up the found family tropes that everyone so desperately wanted from the MCU.
Kudos: 3





	1. The Initiative PT I

**Author's Note:**

> Before y'all start, I wanna say that this is an idea for something I wanna do later and because the medium I chose the mimic is so weird for a superhero story, I decided to choose a lot of different elements from the comics and the MCU – for example, Bucky's death is similar to the comics, but the "childhood bffs" is from the MCU.
> 
> Anyways, I really designed this to be happy, but also somewhat dramatic and filled with action. Think of it as a tragicomedy, if you will.
> 
> With that, happy reading :)

_ When Steve opens his eyes, he’s on the battleground.  _

_ He doesn’t even question it – the war is such a blur already, every moment fading into the next. It seems as though the only thing he knows is death. _

_ Gunfire rings throughout the air, but he hardly even hears it. He shouts orders that he doesn’t even remember giving, leading his troops into a bombed-out village. Where? He has no idea. _

_ As they walk, it grows silent. They are searching for enemy bases, then. _

_ A single shot rings out, and a nazi falls from a church window. _

_ Steve turns to look behind him and sees sunlight flashing off metal. He shields his eyes, and when he removes his hand, the scene is changed. _

_ He is on a runway, on a motorcycle, chasing down a plane. A plane filled with bombs. _

_ On his right is a man with short black hair and a wicked grin. He turns to Steve and yells, “Race ya!” before revving his engine to catch up to the plane. Steve races to catch up, and together the two go up a ramp and jump onto the small drone. It was just big enough to hold them, staying its course to Manhattan. Steve manages to open the wiring, ready to follow the tech genius’ instructions… _

_...when he sees the timer begin counting down. _

_ He shouts a warning to his partner, to let go, to take the fall into the ocean. _

_ He sees the other man let go and releases, except he is the only one falling. His partner shouts his name one last time before the drone explodes. _

_ It’s the last thing he sees before he hits the water. _

Steve gasped and sat upright, calling out, “Bucky!”

Of course, silence greeted him, like always. He sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes, looking over to his alarm clock.

_ 4:00 am. _

Welp. Time to draw his feelings.

When S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury walked in to the training room, he did not expect to see his two most dangerous assassins juggling knives like a circus act.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Hawkeye didn’t even look his way before replying, “I’ll give you three guesses, director.”

“Is this your idea of training?” He demanded.

Black Widow only scoffed at him, her eyes on the knives flying through the air and her hands, “This is a demonstration of adept knife-handling capable only by master assassins.”

“Also master jugglers,” Hawkeye added.

“Well, you jugglers have a mission.”

That was enough to get their attention.

Quickly, the knives were snatched from the air and placed in their respective places. The childish nature was quickly replaced by stone-cold obedience as the two waited for instructions.

Fury handed each of them a red file, but he had a sneaking suspicion that they both already knew most of the information inside, and would merely act clueless.

“Is this…?” Hawkeye asked, flipping the file open.

“Yup,” Fury said.

“What prompted this?” The Widow asked, her file still closed.

“An amalgamation of powerful beings rearing their heads recently,” Fury replied, “Think of it more as a preparation for something nasty coming our way that we don’t yet know about.”

And then they shared a look. The sort of look that meant that all parties had information they were holding back, and the others were aware of it.

Such looks were quite common with these three.

“You have two hours before you’re shipped out. Meet in the hangar then.” Fury then turned on his heel and left the room, knowing the two were already plotting away.

“Sup, Doc.”

He froze when he heard the familiar voice in his office. He sighed and turned around, shutting the door behind him.

The man was sitting on his desk, with short blond hair, purple hearing aids, a quiver of arrows, and black clothes with a purple arrowhead on his chest.

“What did I do this time?” Dr. Bruce Banner asked with a heavy sigh.

“What makes you think you’re in trouble?”

“Because there’s a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative sitting on my desk, carrying a lot of weapons.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Hawkeye said, undoing his quiver and setting it down on the desk, “Fury said we had to be in uniform for this, I dunno why. Does this make you feel better?”

“Knowing you have a dozen more knives hidden on your person, no.”

Hawkeye shrugged, “Look man, we could do the bit with me removing every weapon I’ve got on me, but that would take a lot of time, and I actually have one more appointment after this. So if I promise not to try and kill you, will you promise not to Hulk out and try to kill me?”

Bruce sighed heavily and leaned against his door, rubbing his forehead. God, assassins stressed him out.

“Fine. So if you’re not here to try and take me out, why  _ are _ you here?”

Hawkeye reached into one of the pouches on his utility belt and pulled out a USB drive, holding it out for the doctor.

Warily, he walked over and took it. It was a plain drive, with no logo on it. Important, then.

“Your instructions are to destroy it once you’ve looked through it,” Hawkeye said casually.

“Is this what I think it is?”

Hawkeye nodded.

“Do they want me or the green guy?”

“Does it matter?” He asked, “And I don’t mean that in a rude way – you guys are a package deal. Like, you can’t get Bruce Banner without the Hulk, and vice versa.”

“Why me?” Bruce asked, “I’m a risk.”

“So is everyone else on that file,” Hawkeye replied, “Fury loves risks.”

Bruce sighed again and pocketed the drive, “I’ll look at it on my break. Any specific time I have to give my reply?”

“Normal 24 hours,” Hawkeye said, glancing at his watch, “Speaking of time, I gotta go. My next appointment was hard to set up, and Fury’ll kill me if I miss it.”

“Mr. Stark, your 4 o’clock is here to see you.”

He looked up from the nanoboard he was tweaking and frowned, “I thought I had today booked off so I could work on my projects.”

His assistant Pepper only shrugged, “I thought so too, but this one was added. By S.H.I.E.L.D. it looks like.”

Tony sighed and sat up properly. If those guys made an appointment, they were not going to be turned away.

“Send her in.”

Pepper nodded and left. Once the door to his workshop shut behind her, he put the nanoboard in a drawer and tried to put anything sharp or incriminating out of sight.

He was turning around to put away a pair of tweezers in a drawer when he saw a pair of legs in tight black pants dangling in front of it.

“Shit!” He hissed, backing away, “You can’t announce yourself?”

The Black Widow only shrugged. Her long red hair fell past her shoulders, and he noticed the black one-piece she was wearing was partially unzipped at her chest. Smart.

“So what did I do this time?” Tony asked, leaning against his worktable, “Was it the thing in Brooklyn? Because I already apologized and paid for the damage – Iron Man does his due diligence.”

“Oh, we know,” she assured, “The whole world knows. And you didn’t do anything. This time.”

“So you want something from me, then,” Tony reasoned, “If it’s my tech, the answer is always ‘no’. Stark tech belongs in the hands of a Stark and the people – my government days are over.”

“We only want one piece of Stark tech,” Black Widow said. Then her eyes slid from from Tony’s face down to his chest.

“I already told Fury,” he said coldly, covering the glowing blue circle by his heart, “This is not a toy.”

“He knows, but I think he still believes he’ll get it somehow,” Black Widow said, “But anyways, that’s not what he’s asking for. He wants the Iron Man.

Tony frowned in confusion, then understanding dawned.

“His stupid team-up.”  
Black Widow nodded and tossed Tony a plain black USB drive, “You probably know most of what’s on that, but I still recommend reading it. Destroy it after, and you have 24 hours left to reply.”

“And what if I say no?” Tony asked, looking over the USB drive.

Black Widow laughed.

Clint Barton looked at the markings on the ground with caution. 

He had never been much of a science guy, and he mostly ran on basic logic. However, nothing about Thor was logical, so he was super out of his comfort zone. Probably on purpose, knowing Fury.

However, he also knew that he got along better with the god than Natasha did, especially since the last time they crossed paths, Natasha tried to kill his brother. Again.

Clint looked around at the desert around him, feeling rather silly. He was still in his work clothes, which made him stick out like a sore thumb – always a dangerous thing for a spy. But Fury had insisted on him wearing the black and purple, so there he was, a spot of black and in the goddamn desert.

“Uh, Heimdall?” He called out finally, feeling even stupider, “I uh, I hear you can see everything in the universe? Anyways, I guess a message was sent to you before and uh, we really need to see Thor for a bit. Please?”

Yeah, he was basically praying to an old Norse God. In a deserted town. God he felt  _ stupid.  _

Just as he was about to turn back and bitch at Fury for sending out to Nevada for  _ nothing _ , a giant pillar of glass rainbows suddenly appeared before him, exactly where the Norse markings were. He shielded his eyes from and light and stepped back. Why didn’t Fury warn him about how bright it was? He was already deaf, he didn’t need to get blinded too.

Soon enough, the light subsided and in the middle of the ring stood a powerful figure – blue and silver armor, a red cape, flowing blond hair, and a silver helmet with dove’s wings.

When Thor saw who had called him, his face broke into a grin, “Hawkeye!”

He dropped his hammer in the sand and marched over, clapping Hawkeye on the shoulder with a little more force than necessary.

“Thanks for coming,” Clint said, “How’s Asgard?”

“Grand, as always,” Thor replied, “In fact, with Loki in prison, it’s gotten rather boring. I’ve taken to wandering the nine realms from time to time – I was actually headed to Jotunheim when Heimdall received Fury’s message! Do you know what is going on?”

“Yup,” Clint said, holding out a red file for the god, “And you will too once you read this. Fury wants you to destroy the file once you do, and report back to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in 24 hours.”

With a confused look, Thor took the file, eyeing it over, “Should I read this in front of you, or…?”

Clint smiled and shook his head, “Nah, you can take it back to Asgard, so long as no one sees it.”

“I understand!” Thor said loudly, tucking the envelope under his arm, “I shall see you tomorrow, Hawkeye!”

Clint waved as Thor went back to the centre of the markings and held his hammer up, calling for Heimdall. This time he had the sense to close his eyes as the rainbow bridge appeared, opening them only after Thor was gone.

He wondered if Nat was doing as well as he was.

Probably.

Steve sat in Prospect Park, carefully sketching out an old, ivy-covered stone bridge over a stone walkway. It was one of his favourite spots for sure, with lots of new things to draw.

As he was focusing, he felt someone slide onto the bench beside him. He marked his page and closed his sketchbook, turning to the agent beside him.

“I see you’re in uniform.”

Black Widow shrugged, “Fury’s orders.”

“What’s he got for me today?”

“For tomorrow, actually,” she replied as she handed him a red folder.

It wasn’t unusual at all for Steve to be called in by S.H.I.E.L.D., a sort of extension of the branch of government that had created him in the first place. For the most part, they had him fly to different places and take down some B-class villains, usually ones that Steve had some prior knowledge of. He didn’t mind it too much, as it kept him busy. Wasn’t like he was able to get a job anywhere else.

When he opened the file, his eyes widened. 

“The Avengers Initiative?”

Black Widow nodded, “Yeah, Fury finally decided to go through with it.”

“Is this because of Budapest?”

Black Widow laughed, “Partially, yeah. But it’s also because of Loki, and Doctor Doom, and a bunch of other powerful beings that are starting to become active again.”

“Who else is on it?”

“Me, Hawkeye, Stark, Thor, and Banner.”

Steve nodded and set the file down on the bench, “A solid team.”

Black Widow narrowed her eyes, “You don’t sound so sure.”

Steve shrugged, taking in the peaceful scenery around them, “It’s good in theory, for sure – good balance of brains and physical powerhouses, experience in different fields. But super-powered teams can be difficult at best.”

“This isn’t like your old team,” Black Widow said.

Steve smiled and looked at her in an extremely doubtful way. Finally she sighed.

“Okay so maybe it is like the Invaders.”

“Never liked that name,” Steve said, “Churchill gave it to us after we rescued him. Kinda stuck, even after we focused more on the war effort and went our separate ways. And I can tell you from experience that managing a non-superpowered team is far easier.”

“Think of it like this,” Black Widow reasoned, “It’s like the power of Invaders with the unity of your Howling Commandos. Fury will be overseeing the project, at least in its early stages.”

“Stark won’t like that.”

“Stark won’t like a lot of things that this team is going to do,” Black Widow admitted, “But he’s still going to join.”

“I’ll look at the file once I get home,” Steve said, “When should I report back to base?”

“In about 20 hours.”

Steve nodded and picked his sketchbook back up, turning back to his marked page. He felt Black Widow lean in to look.

“Has the art helped?”

Steve nodded, noticing the switch from Black Widow to Natasha, “Yeah, helps me clear my head. What I can’t put into words, I can put into pictures. It kind of makes it seem a little more real. Helps me remember too.”

Natasha reached a hand over and pointed at the other side of the page, where there were a bunch of profiles of various people – mostly a man and a woman.

“Did you dream about them again?”

Steve nodded, “Bucky, this time. The drone, the explosion, going under. I went to go visit Peggy again today.”

“How’s she doing?”

“To quote, ‘at least I’m still alive’.”

Natasha laughed, “I’ve only met her once, but I like Peggy a lot.”

Steve smiled down at her profile, “Yeah, she has that effect on people.”

As the two were silently looking at the drawings, Natasha’s phone beeped. She pulled it out of her belt and rolled her eyes when she saw the notification.

“Fury wants me back at base. I’ll see you tomorrow I guess.”

Steve nodded and watched her leave, wondering what on earth he was getting himself into.

  
  
  



	2. I guess we're Avengers now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's for you Larkin

When Tony walked into the briefing room, he almost walked right back out.

The tension in the room was insane – it seemed like no one really knew what to say or do. The other five people in the room sat around a large table with the S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia in the centre in this order: Dr. Bruce Banner, empty spot, Thor, Agent Clint Barton, Agent Natasha Romanoff, and Captain Steve Rogers. Tony had looked over the files they’d all been given (and downloaded them for future use of course) and realized pretty quickly what he was getting himself into.

When Steve saw that Tony had arrived, he stood up and walked around the table, sticking his hand out.

“It’s nice to formally meet you,” he said with a smile. It seemed genuine enough.

Tony shook his hand, perhaps somewhat reluctantly, “Have we really never met before?”

Steve shook his head, “No, only in passing I believe. I did know your grandparents though.”

“Cool,” Tony said with a smile as he let go of Steve’s hand, “Weird as hell, but cool.”

“Are you just about done?”

The two men turned as Director Nick Fury walked into the room. Tony noticed that the air in the room seemed to change; the agents and the captain sat up straighter, the doctor seemed fidgetier, and Thor...well Thor was a god so he was kind of just waiting for something to happen.

The two standing men found their seats as Fury walked to the front of the room, looking at each of the six people.

“I’m going to go ahead and assume that you’ve all done your homework,” Fury began, “if not – too bad.” He waved his hand over the table and a series of images and videos popped up, each one showcasing someone different. Some were heroes, others villains, others somewhere in between. Tony knew most of them but he had to admit that it made him nervous that he couldn’t name everyone in front of him.

“This is what the world has become,” Fury began, “Shit like this has been happening for centuries, but for some reason, within the last few decades, things have gotten worse. The bad guys are getting more powerful and things are getting more complicated. Team-ups have suddenly made a sort of renaissance.”

At this, glances were thrown at Steve, who pretended like he hadn’t noticed.

The second oldest in the room, Captain America had been the leader of the first superpowered team – the Invaders. It consisted of six members in its prime: Captain America, Bucky, Namor the Sub-Mariner, the Human Torch, Toro, and Union Jack. 

The Invaders had recycled through its members but disbanded when Bucky and Captain America fell into the Atlantic. Needless to say, the shit kind of hit the fan once their leader and his sidekick disappeared.

“This is a time where we need to fight fire with fire,” Fury continued, “Team-ups have been proven to work before, and after what happened in Budapest, it’s clear that this is our best option. So, as of today, the six of you are the Avengers.”

The tone in which Fury spoke sounded intense, but everyone in the room was...uncomfortable.

“Is this like, a permanent thing?” Tony finally spoke up, “A lifetime membership sort of deal?’

“This is not a trial,” Fury replied, “we don’t have time for that.”

“So what exactly does this entail?” Steve asked, “What are we expected to do here?”

“When S.H.I.E.L.D. sees an issue we think the Avengers need solving, we’ll send you in to deal with it.”

“Do we have the authority to deal with it ourselves?”

“No need – we’re on top of things.”

Before Steve could complain, Black Widow interjected.

“Will we still be given solo missions?”

“Yes. As of now, all of you are S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.”

“Uh, no,” Tony said with a laugh, “I’m Iron Man – I’m nobody’s agent.”

“Thor will listen to no one!” Thor added, “I shall do as I please when I see fit! I will not be subjected to mortal whims.”

“Yeah, I’m not overly comfortable with this either,” Dr. Banner spoke up, somewhat quietly, “I’m into humanitarian work and it’s hard to do that if I get sent out to destroy stuff on a regular basis.”

Fury sighed and waved, the images disappearing, “This isn’t going to be easy, and we’re not just going to send you into a fight to  _ destroy stuff. _ Our duty is to keep the peace, however we can. Right now, the Avengers are the best hope we have.”

The rest of the meeting droned on after that. Fury talked about housing, what was expected of them, paychecks, all the dry stuff. Obviously he didn’t really want to talk about it either, because when Thor started snoring, he just sighed and left.

The room was silent for an entire 120 seconds as they waited to make sure Fury was out of earshot. 

At 121 seconds, Tony spoke.

“So, we can agree that this is all bullshit, right?”

Everyone in the room heartily agreed with him.

“Teams can be really effective,” Steve noted, “but they’re dangerous, too. Tensions run high – but with a superpowered team it’s always worse. There has to be a designated leader, and it seems like Fury is trying to assert himself as that leader.”

“If you want the scoop,” Clint said, kicking his feet up on the table and beginning to pick his fingernails with a knife, “we can tell you why Fury  _ really  _ brought this team together.”

“Oh, Fury’s hiding something, big surprise,” Tony scoffed.

“He was telling the truth when he said what happened in Budapest was what kicked this into motion,” Natasha said, “But S.H.I.E.L.D. has been on edge ever since Xavier turned his old school into the headquarters for his mutant team.”

“I thought S.H.I.E.L.D. was on good terms with the X-Men?” Steve asked.

“I’m not fighting the Professor,” Banner declared, “he’s a good man.”

“We know,” Natasha assured, “But people in high positions are getting nervous that the government doesn’t have its own superhero team. They want to be prepared in case something goes wrong – they want to be in control.”

“Can’t say I’m a fan of that,” Steve sighed.

“Aren’t you a product of government control?” Tony asked.

“Yeah. Your point?”

“Just clarifying. So what now?”

“We can’t say no,” Natasha said.

“Thor can say no to whomever he wishes!”

“Sure, but that doesn't mean they’ll listen,” Clint countered, “If you say no, then you’re marked down as dangerous. Not only will S.H.I.E.L.D. literally never do you any favour ever again, but they’ll be on your ass for everything you do here on Earth.”

“That is...problematic.”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,” Tony scoffed, “So it doesn’t really seem like we have a choice. Guess we’re Avengers, huh? Does that mean we have to choose a leader?”  
There was a beat of silence before Natasha piped up, “You sure know how to ruin a mood, Stark.”

“What?” Tony demanded, “I’m pointing out the obvious! We should choose a leader now while we’re still young instead of fighting about it in the future.”

“Stark has a point,” Steve admitted, “We should choose a leader if this is going to be a legitimate team.”

“So that begs the question,” Bruce spoke up, “Who becomes the leader?”

“We could put it to a vote,” Steve offered.

“Democracy – I like it,” Tony said, “So, who wants to run for Avengers president?”

“Nope,” Clint replied.

“I’m not much of a leader,” Natasha admitted, “Banner, Thor?”

“Leading is too stressful for me.”

“I gave up the throne on Asgard, I shall not trade it for another.”

“Well I’d like to put myself out there,” Tony said, “Vote for Stark.”

“Not to antagonize, but I’d like to offer my leadership,” Steve said.

“Great! So, let’s put it to a vote – ourselves excluded. All in favour of the Capsicle?”

Bruce and Natasha raised their hands.

“In favour of me?”

Thor and Clint offered their vote.

“Can’t say I didn’t see this coming,” Steve sighed.

“Guess we’re gonna have to settle this like men.”

“Tony I–”

“With rock paper scissors.”

Steve looked down at Tony’s outstretched fist and laughed.

“What?” Tony teased, “You seriously thought I would kick this team off by getting into a fistfight? I know I’m a shit-disturber but I’m not stupid. Now, I take it that this game is one you recognize.”

“I do know it,” Steve admitted, getting up and walking over to Tony, holding his hand out, “On ‘shoot’?”

“Of course. Ready? Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”

The two men hit their palms three times before showing their choice, a choice that would define the Avengers.

Steve chose scissors. Tony chose paper.

“Best two outta three?” Tony offered.

Steve laughed and withdrew his hand, “Sorry, Stark, you had your chance.”

“Fair enough.” Tony clapped Steve on the back, met with rippling muscle, “Congratulations, Captain America. You are now the new leader of the Avengers. How about we all celebrate by getting lunch, hm?”


End file.
